Bill has it. All right-thinking Brits and Colonials celebrate with fire the capture and execution of a bloke who failed to blow up the English Houses of Parliament in 1605 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_fawkes). In fact, up until 1859 in the UK it was illegal to not celebrate.
Mostly here and now it's an excuse for letting off fireworks, which are not available for sale to the general public for the rest of the year. Not many people burn the Guy in effigy any more.
ah, gotcha... it's been a while since I lived in a country that celebrated it :) I also didn't realize what day it was for you... that always confuses the hell out of me with you folks right along the International Dateline.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2008-11-05 05:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-05 08:10 pm (UTC)Mostly here and now it's an excuse for letting off fireworks, which are not available for sale to the general public for the rest of the year. Not many people burn the Guy in effigy any more.
no subject
Date: 2008-11-05 08:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-05 08:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-11-05 06:04 pm (UTC)